NORTH Ballarat Roosters coach Gerard FitzGerald said the move to becoming a standalone club in the Victorian Football League would offer more opportunities to promising home-grown talent across the region – just as the move would also create a whole new set of challenges for players and the club.
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FitzGerald said the list was in a good position to move forward and go stand-alone in 2016, helped by the fact AFL partner North Melbourne had given one year’s notice it would end their partial alignment.
“For varying reasons we have been unable to have a full alignment and we knew that one day North Melbourne would gradually look to develop its own VFL list,” FitzGerald said.
“...Because of the fact we’ve had a partial alignment, we’ve had to continue to develop our own club list and we’ve felt that is why we have been successful.
“We have a sound base here so we’ve never had to rely on an AFL partner to prop us up.”
North Melbourne announced at the weekend it would adopt a full alignment with Werribee, which had also been a partial partner, for at least the next two years and with a view to create its own VFL arm in the future.
FitzGerald said Kangaroos’ players would always remain a significant part of Roosters’ history and, while next season’s closing chapter was certain to be emotional at times, the roosters would again adapt for a new beginning.
